“Hours”

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Via Pitchfork

It's been almost two years since we've heard any music from Scott Hansen, the graphic designer and blogger who records as Tycho, so it feels strangely fitting that his return is the slowly expanding "Hours". It's a song that spreads out for almost six minutes and gives everybody some time to get comfortable in its atmosphere. It opens in a haze and takes about 30 seconds for the first wavering synth to meet up with the song's persistent thump. But the obvious dominating force at the core is the melody composed entirely of droplet synths. Those synths serve as the "voice" of the song, full of personality and seemingly trying to provide a wordless narrative.

For nearly six minutes, Hansen creates a soundscape that's understated but undeniable. It broods and shoegazes while offering mounds of sensuality in its basslines and percussion. Hansen has called the songs from Dive "artifacts from a future." While his world-of-tomorrow arrangements justify the boast, there's still something familiarly melancholic in those synths that could evoke someone's past, as the shimmer and echoes invite listeners to attach their own memories to the song's self-contained universe.